ERST and Vallen Form Alliance

HOUSTON, Sept. 24 -- Vallen Corporation (Nasdaq: VALN) and Emergency Response Strike Team, Inc. (ERST) have announced that formation of an alliance to provide emergency response management and supply services to customers throughout North America.

ERST, a wholly owned subsidiary of Unocal, is a leading provider of emergency management services to manufacturers, oil companies, chemical companies, municipalities and other organizations. Vallen, through its subsidiary Vallen Safety Supply Company, provides safety supplies and emergency response equipment to a wide range of companies. The new venture pools key services provided by each of the two companies, providing enhanced services and support to a wider array of organizations.

According to Jim Thompson, president and CEO of Vallen, the alliance will provide customers of the two organizations, a self-contained mobile emergency logistical Support Unit manned by fully trained technicians on a 24-hour basis. The initial unit will be based in the Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif., areas and cover the West Coast. The service will provide ordering, issuing and inventory/cost control of consumable safety supplies at a discounted price. The clients will benefit from reduced costs, elimination of third party mark-ups and control over indiscriminate use of theses materials.

Tim Perkins, ERST president notes, "We feel the program offered by Vallen and ERST is timely, cost effective and ensures a high degree of coordinated technical support on an 'as needed' basis for the industrial marketplace." The service will add additional cost control and supply benefits to ERST's emergency management services and provide customers access to Vallen's 100 locations across the United States and North America.

Additional information on the new services can be obtained by contacting ERST at 800-730-7611, or by contacting any Vallen Safety sales representative, by telephone at 800-372-3389, or via the internet at http://www.erst.com or http://www.vallen.com.